About
Field roboticist building autonomy for places with no second chances
Bio
Australia-based field roboticist taking UAVs from concept to Antarctic deployment
I'm a research fellow at the QUT Centre for Robotics (QCR) and a member of Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future (SAEF), an Australian Research Council Special Research Initiative. My work joins robotics, computer vision, and remote sensing to put autonomy where it matters: on small UAVs flying in fragile, hostile, or time-critical environments.
Day to day I deploy drones across Antarctic protected areas, Australian conservation sites, and search and rescue scenarios. I design the perception stack, the decision-making layer, and the data pipeline that takes raw sensor frames to ecologically useful maps. The brief is usually the same: it has to work the first time, with no reliable network, in conditions that punish small mistakes.
I hold a BEng (Mechatronics) and a PhD in robotics and autonomous systems from QUT. That mix of hardware-first instincts paired with modern perception and machine learning shapes how I build systems today.
Focus
What I work on
Six interlocking threads. Most projects touch three or four of them at once.
Machine learning
Models that hold up in the field, not just on a benchmark.
Decision-making under uncertainty
Onboard autonomy when GPS, comms, or visibility are unreliable.
Environmental monitoring & biosecurity
Detection and mapping pipelines for vegetation, weeds, and pathogens.
Drone-based search and rescue
Time-critical UAV operations to locate people in collapsed structures and bushland.
Hyperspectral & multispectral imaging
Sensor pipelines from raw radiance through to classification.
Real-time onboard computer vision
Perception running on the aircraft, at frame rate, in extreme conditions.
Toolkit
Capabilities
What I can build, fly, and ship. Grouped by theme, not by years of experience.
Robotics & autonomy
- ROS, PX4, QGroundControl, Gazebo
- Quad-rotors, hexa-rotors, SLAM-based platforms
- Mission planning, autonomous decision-making under uncertainty
Perception & imaging
- Hyperspectral processing (Python, ENVI, Hyperspec III)
- Multispectral, RGB, and thermal sensor pipelines
- Geospatial workflows in ArcGIS, GNSS-RTK fusion
Software & ML
- Python, C++, C#, MATLAB/Simulink
- Deep learning with PyTorch and TensorFlow
- Model design, training, and onboard deployment
Hardware & mechatronics
- Mechatronic design (SolidWorks, Inventor, ANSYS)
- Microcontrollers (C, MPLAB X, Arduino), FPGA (VHDL)
- Electronics, PCB design (Altium, Proteus)
Control & instrumentation
- Control systems (MATLAB Simulink, C#, VHDL)
- Sensor instrumentation (MATLAB Simulink, LabVIEW)
- Industrial automation (Siemens TIA Portal, Festo)
Track record
Experience
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2022 – Present
Research Fellow
QUT Centre for Robotics · Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future (SAEF) · Brisbane, Australia
UAV remote sensing for detection and mapping of vegetation in fragile Antarctic ecosystems and other polar regions.
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2022
Research Engineer
Charles Sturt University (CSU) · Wagga Wagga, Australia
UAVs and machine learning for detection of hawkweed using multispectral imagery.
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2020 – 2021
Research Engineer
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) · Brisbane, Australia
Mapping pasture dieback from airborne hyperspectral and multispectral mosaics, with sensor-fusion pipelines using Headwall Nano-Hyperspec, Python, ArcGIS, and ENVI.
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2018 – 2020
Sessional Academic
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) · Brisbane, Australia
Tutoring on EGH455 Advanced Systems Design.
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2017 – 2018
Research Assistant
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) · Brisbane, Australia
Identification and mapping of weeds, pathogens, and vegetation of national interest using UAVs, image sensors, and AI.
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2015
Research Assistant
Universidad Militar Nueva Granada (UMNG) · Bogota, Colombia
Analysis of pesticide residues in fruits to predict harmful effects on human health.
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2013 – 2014
Mechatronic Engineer
Universidad Militar Nueva Granada (UMNG) · Bogota, Colombia
Design and optimisation of robotics and autonomous systems for monitoring strawberry crops.
Training
Education
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2018 – 2022
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane
Autonomous Decision-making for UAVs Operating under Environmental and Object Detection Uncertainty.
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2017 – 2018
Diploma of Project Management
Australian Pacific College, Brisbane
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2010 – 2015
Bachelor of Engineering (Mechatronics)
Nueva Granada Military University, Bogota
Collaborate
Want to collaborate?
I'm open to projects across academia, industry, and government, especially around autonomy, remote sensing, and time-critical missions.